How do you know? (Part 1) Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: How do you know? (Part 1) -------------------------- Date: 11/21/2000 Keywords: "actions" "love" "pity" "sacrifice" "truth" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: 1 John 3:16-18* 16. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18. Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. Questions 1. How do you recognize love?   2. Is verse 18 saying that loving words are not important?   3. What does it look like to lay down your life sexually?   Practical help When it comes to looking for patterns for love, Jesus is the best example, and the only perfect example. His form of love was never looking for ways to obtain personal gain or comfort, particularly not at the expense of others. This is not to say he did not enjoy comfort and satisfaction when it was offered to him lovingly. Just look at how he responded to Mary's lavish affection in Matthew 26:6-13. If you want to put Jesus' principles of love into action in your sex life, consider becoming totally dependent on God to provide for your satisfaction and not seeking your own as your priority. With regard to porn, realize the exploitation of others that is involved, and think of laying aside your own desire in deference to the needs of your brothers and sisters in Christ. If you are married and sexually deprived, you may be too angry about your own unmet need to have any thoughts of what your spouse desires and misses from you. Porn seems the easy fix. That is not the mind of Christ. How do you know what love is? You won't really know love personally until you learn to trust Jesus enough to take him at his word and give yourself up for those you love. eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 2000 by eXXit *Scriptures are from The Holy Bible: New International Version © Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.